Teen Parent Program

The Teen Parent Program (TPP), a program of Open Pantry Community Services, Inc., is a residential program for teenage parents and their children who are pregnant and/or parenting and in need of a safe place to live. Open Pantry has been operating this program since 1995.

Our TPP is designed to meet the immediate and long-term needs of teenage parents and their children. The program is designed to assist teen parents in accessing resources, both their own inner resources and those supportive services available in the community. This design not only helps participants to meet their needs, but also to foster long-term goals of self-sufficiency and independence as well as realistic plans to achieve these goals.

While at the TPP, case managers work with the teens to prepare them to live on their own and to be self-sufficient. The teens must attend 24 hours a month of parenting and life skills classes. Some examples are: Nutrition and Cooking Workshop, Write Stuff - a creative writing workshop, Parenting and Child Development, and Preparing Adolescents for Young Adulthood. Some of these classes are taught by the TPP staff and some by people in the community who volunteer their time and talents.

Open Pantry's TPP is funded by the Department of Children and Families.